1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to electrical connectors with a ground structure for impedance and cross talk control between signal carrying conductors.
2. Description of Related Art
With the advance of technology, a high density of electronic circuits and components can be located on a printed wiring board or printed circuit board (PCB). Along with this miniaturization of electronic circuits and components, electrical connectors are needed to electrically and mechanically interconnect one PCB, such as a back panel or mother board, to one or more other PCBs, such as daughter boards. Further, it is typically desirable for such connectors to have a high signal density capacity. That is, the connectors should permit a high number of signals to pass through the connector per unit volume of the connector. However, electrical signals carried on a conductor can interfere with a signal carried on an adjacent conductor.
This interfering electrical effect that an electrical signal carried on a given conductor exerts on a signal carried on an adjacent conductor is referred to as "cross talk." Controlling this cross talk is especially important in high density connectors. Such control can be implemented in a variety of ways.
One method of controlling cross talk is to connect certain terminals in a high density connector to conductive areas of a printed circuit board that are in turn grounded or connected to a predetermined ground potential. This solution is external to the connector.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,655,518 (to Lennart B. Johnson et al.), 4,686,607 (to Lennart B. Johnson) and 4,869,677 (to Lennart B. Johnson et al.) disclose a daughter board/ backplane assembly with contact elements dedicated for grounding purposes. Header contact elements have contacts that can be connected to ground or a predetermined potential on a backplane. The header contact elements have other spring contacts carried by an inside header wall for touching contacts carried by a right angle receptacle outer wall. Other contacts are integral with and perpendicular to the contacts carried by the right angle receptacle outer wall for connection to the daughter board.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,601,527 issued to Timothy A. Lemke discloses an internal shielding structure for connectors, specifically in vertical and right angle headers. The shielding structure includes a ground strip affixed to a mating surface of a header housing. The shielding structure further includes an elongated conductive spring contact with contact beams that extend in holes of side walls of the housing, lock tabs that connect to the ground strip and ground bars for connection to a grounded chassis.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,824,383 issued to Timothy A. Lemke discloses a shielding structure in connectors or plug-type terminators for either a multiple conductor cable or a multiple tracing substrate that electrically isolates individual or groups of contact elements in the terminator to prevent or minimize cross talk between adjacent conductors and to prevent or minimize degradation of signal transmission. The terminator includes a ground structure with generally U-shaped channels. Contact elements extend into the channels. The ground structure is connected to a predetermined potential, rather than dedicating some of the contact elements for this purpose.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,898,546 issued to Richard A. Elco et al. discloses a ground shield device for right angle connectors. A different one of the shield devices straddles alternate columns of contact elements in the connector. Each shield device clips to a tail of one of the contact elements straddled by the shield device. The shield devices are connected to ground or a predetermined potential.
It is an object of this invention to provide high density electrical connectors for electrically and mechanically interconnecting electronic circuits and/or components controlling impedance and/or cross talk within the connectors.
Furthermore, it is an object of this invention to provide high density electrical connectors for electrically and mechanically interconnecting a circuit assembly and a plurality of terminals arranged in rows and columns in a mating connector to control impedance and/or cross talk thereby to reduce, prevent or minimize degradation of signal transmission within the receptacles.